Tartaglia's in Atlanta

Mar 13, 2009

He wants what?

This morning Avery comes in my room and says to me, "Mom, when can we get a pig?" What??

Most kids want a dog, cat, fish, etc. but my kid wants a pig because pigs are so "cute" he says. Wow. It's actually not a bad idea--if you live on a farm. I'll get right on that.

Jan 11, 2009

Over Christmas break we decided it was time to do Avery's room. The poor kid hasn't even had his own blanket since he was a baby. Santa brought him a new bed set and lamp so we painted it to match. We added a few things after this picture was taken but I thought it turned out pretty good. Thanks for the idea, Bridget!

Chrismas morning...

In the excitement of the morning we remembered to video the kids but didn't remember to take pictures! So the following are the only two pictures to document the day.

Paka and Mimi came over to spend some time with us Christmas morning. We loved that they were able to spend some time with us because the kids were sick Christmas eve and we had to miss the party with the family.

Santa was very generous to us and we had a wonderful time.

He brought me a new professional series KitchenAid and so I had to bust it out that morning and make a cake! This is one of my favorite cakes ever!

Cranberry Cake

3/4 C Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 C Sour Cream
7-8oz Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 1/2 tsp soda
3 C flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp almond/vanilla extract
3/4 C nuts

Cream butter and sugar; add egg one at a time beating after each one. Mix dry ingredients. Add alternately with sour cream. Add flavoring. Grease and flour bundt pan. Put 1/3 batter on bottom. Swirl half the cranberry sauce onto the layer and sprinkle with a few nuts. Swirl into the batter and repeat layers until used up. Bake at 350 for 1hr or until doen. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Turn on rack and cool.

Glaze

1 rounded C powdered sugar
1 1/2 TBSP warm water
3/4 tsp almond extract

Mix and drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with nuts. ( I prefer slivered almonds or pecans)

Christmas break...

Over the break we had a really good time dog-sitting Popcorn and Coco for some friends of ours that went on vacation. The kids adore them (so do Andrew and I) and couldn't wait to take them outside whenever they got a chance. We also had fun decorating our gingerbread house that was made by our friend Susie Connell. Thanks Susie, we had a great time!!

Some updates...

So it's been awhile again since I last posted and I'm just going to update everyone in a few different posts instead of cramming it all into one.

Below are the pies I made for Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. The pumpkin pie is made from our Halloween pumpkin this year. We never ended up carving it so I cooked it down and made some puree. It turned out really good, I thought.

Also, I made my mom's apple pie and that was scrum-diddly-umptious! I would include the recipe but I'm feeling lazy so if you really want it then shoot me an email.

Many of you know that I'm a Twilight fan so my friends Shauna, Bridget and I had a girl's night and enjoyed going to see it the night it opened. Of course Shauna and I had to wear our nerdy Twilight shirts from when we went to the book party for Breaking Dawn. They say "Team Edward, Cooler than a Werewolf" in case you can't read it.

The finished pumpkin pie.. I didn't take a "before" picture.

Before the oven....

The finished product!

Nov 20, 2008

Some thoughts... and gratitude... and my new job

So I haven't posted very much lately because at the beginning of Oct my life got much busier. I started working for a family as their Jack-of-all-trades. I cook, clean, help with kids, run errands, and organize. They are so wonderful to me and I couldn't ask for a better job that provides more flexibility than I could dream of... and they are so nice to me about my cooking when I know it really wasn't something to write home about! (Although I do have to say that the pork loin I made this week was indeed quite tasty :-) Also, Avery goes with me and Bridget (who works from home) has the patience of a Saint with all his boyish ways while I'm there making things tidy. So thank you Bridget and Bill. You are a blessing in my family's and my life. I love you guys!

And to the rest of those that check this blog I hope to catch up with you guys soon! I've been choosing a little more sleep over a little more computer time.

Tomorrow is Emily's Kindergarten program. It's going to be so cute! More to come... maybe :-)

Nov 9, 2008

New York, Baby

We had a great time in New York at the beginning of October. We went for Andrew's sister's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time celebrating and seeing friends and family. Andrew and Emily's birthdays were that week so we celebrated those as well.

We were able to go into the city and spend some time at the Central Park Zoo, Central Park and the Museum of Natural History. We enjoyed good times and most especially good food! We had yummy Italian, Chinese and Korean food. I tried Water Lilly root, Mackerel and Anchovies for the first time. It was delicious and well worth the weight-gain :-)

We also had a chance to visit with friends that we knew in Clemson who have moved to Danbury, Ct and Pennsylvania. Thanks guys for driving over from Pennsylvania! And Megan you have a beautiful home!

People are knocking down old houses in my in-laws neighborhood and building what my MIL calls "Palazzo's". I had to get a pic of what they look like. Really ridiculous and out of place compared to what is all around.